Tigers look to tighten up defense in last two regular season games

Missouri is in its final week of the regular season and a good portion of its postseason hopes rely on the outcomes.

Sitting in seventh place in the Southeastern Conference with an 18-11 record and 8-8 in league play, the Tigers aren’t completely out of the double-bye hunt in the SEC Tournament, but it will need help. A lot of help.

The first thing Missouri needs to do is win on Tuesday. That plus a win by Auburn, over Arkansas, would keep the Tigers in contention. But more importantly, a win on Tuesday would keep Missouri on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble.

Currently on a three-game losing streak, Missouri has dropped from a projected No. 7 seed in Joe Lunardi’s bracketology to a No. 9 seed. It’s still sitting comfortable with 10 at-large teams seeded below it, but a win would go a long way in terms of locking in its bid.

What needs to happen for Missouri to do that? It’s clear, senior Jordan Barnett said after the Tigers’ 87-66 loss to Kentucky.

“We have to pick ourselves back up, defensively,” Barnett said. “We gave up 88 points tonight. 90 points in our last game.”

The final score of Saturday’s game was first reported as 88-66, before a late 3-pointer was changed to a two. Regardless, Missouri’s defense has struggled as of late.

Missouri had made its living this season as a defensive-minded team. When the shots don’t fall, coach Cuonzo Martin wants his team to be able to rely on its defense. And for most of the season that’s been the case.

In the last two games, Missouri has seen teams shoot well above their average, especially from deep.

Kentucky and Mississippi are both sub-200 ranked teams in 3-point percentage. Mississippi is actually ranked 318 out of 351 teams. Still, both shot above their average against a Missouri team that is ranked in the Top-40 in 3-point percentage defense.

Now, some of that comes with basketball. Some games shots fall. Some games they don’t, but junior Kevin Puryear said Saturday there was some continued defensive miscommunication.

“I think we had some lapses mentally, as well tonight,” Puryear said Saturday. “We have two more opportunities to close out the season strong, so that’s what we are looking forward to. These next two games that’s what we really have to tighten up on.”

Tuesday’s game will pit Missouri against Vanderbilt, a team with two of the best shooters in the SEC. Jeff Roberson, Vanderbilt’s leading scorer, is shooting 40 percent from deep. Riley LeChance, Vanderbilt’s second-leading scorer, is eighth in the SEC shooting 41 percent from deep.

Missouri is more than capable of slowing down Vanderbilt’s shooters on their Senior Night. If they don’t, while the Tigers chances at a double-bye will be over it’s NCAA Tournament chances will not.

It will still have a home game, on Saturday, against Arkansas who has a Top-50 RPI and the SEC Tournament to boost its resume.

A win on Tuesday would help its chances though, and that win will need to begin on the defensive end.

IN-DEPTH LOOK AT SEC STANDINGS: Let’s take a deep dive into where Missouri could realistically end up when the SEC Tournament rolls around next week.

As of Monday, Missouri currently holds the No. 7 seed in the SEC. That would place them in the 6 p.m. game on Thursday against Louisiana State. If Missouri won it would play No. 2-seed Tennessee.

It’s not out of the realm of possibility for Missouri to break into the double-bye, which would push their tournament opener back to Friday.

For that to happen, Missouri will need to sweep its final two games, but it also needs some help. A scenario includes losses by Mississippi State in its final two games. Florida must lose to Alabama and beat Kentucky. Arkansas must defeat Auburn and lose to Missouri. Kentucky must beat Mississippi and lose to Florida.

That would make a four-way tie for third. The results of the tiebreaker would push Missouri into the No. 4 seed, while Florida would claim the No. 3 seed.

While that’s the ideal situation, there is also a possibility that Missouri could slip into the opening day if it dropped its final two games of the season and teams below it won.

This is a big week for Missouri and Tuesday is just the beginning.

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